LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Premier League defending champion Liverpool parted ways with its set-piece coach Aaron Briggs on Tuesday.
Liverpool said in a brief statement on its website that Briggs “departed his role” after joining as a member of coach Arne Slot's backroom staff in July last year.
“He leaves with the appreciation and best wishes of everyone at the club,” Liverpool added.
Liverpool's precarious start to its title defense has seen six defeats and 26 goals conceded in 18 games — compared to just four league defeats all last season.
During Saturday's nervy 2-1 home win against rock-bottom Wolverhampton the visitors scored from a corner, and after the match Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk highlighted Liverpool's ongoing problems from set pieces.
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Liverpool's Florian Wirtz scores his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers in Liverpool, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)
ASSEN, Netherlands (AP) — A priceless ancient golden helmet from Romania stolen last year from a museum in the Netherlands has been recovered, Dutch authorities announced Thursday.
Under the guard of heavily armed, balaclava-clad police, prosecutors unveiled the 2,500-year-old Cotofenesti helmet, one of Romania’s most revered national treasures from the Dacia civilization, during a news conference in the eastern Dutch city of Assen.
“We are incredibly pleased,” Corien Fahner of the prosecution service told reporters. “It has been a roller-coaster. Especially for Romania, but also for employees of the Drents Museum.”
The helmet was on display at the small museum in January 2025, the last weekend of a six-month-long exhibition, when thieves broke in and grabbed it, along with three golden wristbands.
There were fears the helmet may have been melted down because its fame and dramatic studded appearance made it virtually unsellable.
Two of three missing armbands were also recovered as part of a deal prosecutors reached with three men arrested for the heist shortly after it occurred. Their trial will begin later in April.
Fahner said the search for the remaining armband would continue.
The helmet did not return unscathed.
“The helmet is slightly dented, but there will be no permanent damage,” Drents Museum director Robert van Langh said during the news conference. “The armbands are in perfect condition.”
Thieves used a homemade firework bomb and sledgehammer to break into the museum. Grainy security video distributed by police after the raid appeared to show three people opening a museum door with a large crowbar, followed by an explosion.
The theft put a strain on relations between the Netherlands and Romania
Romanian Justice Minister Radu Marinescu last year called the incident a “crime against our state” and said recovering the artifacts “is an absolute priority.”
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Associated Press writers Molly Quell and Mike Corder contributed from The Hague, Netherlands.
A stolen artefact from Romania, the 2,500-year-old Cotofenesti helmet, recovered in Netherlands, is shown during a press conference in Assen, Netherlands, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Aleksandar Furtula)
A Police officer stands by a stolen artefact from Romania, the 2,500-year-old Cotofenesti helmet, recovered in Netherlands, is shown during a press conference in Assen, Netherlands, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Aleksandar Furtula)
Police officers stand by a stolen artefact from Romania, the 2,500-year-old Cotofenesti helmet, recovered in Netherlands, is shown during a press conference in Assen, Netherlands, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Aleksandar Furtula)
